Overview

Research in the community ecology group, led by Fiorenza Micheli, focuses on understanding the processes and interactions shaping marine communities, and incorporating this understanding in the management and conservation of marine ecosystems. A primary focus of our research has been in how disturbance and interactions between species underlie the organization, spatial variation, and temporal change in marine communities. In addition to addressing these basic ecological questions, research in the lab seeks to apply community ecology to increase our understanding of human impacts on the marine environment, the dynamics of social-ecological systems, and to design conservation and restoration strategies. Examples include quantifying the joint effects of fishing and climate change on marine ecosystems, investigating the effects of ocean acidification on coastal marine communities, assessing the impacts of fishing on the diversity and composition of marine parasite communities, reconstructing the extent and consequences of the depletion of top predators from pelagic and coral reef ecosystems, investigating biophysical coupling in kelp forest ecosystems, and informing the design and evaluation of marine reserves and marine zoning.